Stop the ride, i wanna get off!

ragstoricheswannabe

Have finally managed to get on here, my shifts at work at the moment are crazy!!!


so for a basic cake mix that will do fairy cakes or a big cake: (can make more just double etc the amounts)

• 4oz margerine or butter for a richer cake
• 4oz caster suger (blends in better than granulated)
• 2 eggs
• 4oz self raising flour.
• 1 to 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence/extract.

Cream the marg/butter and sugar together till its really light in colour amd you cant hear any sugar grinding. Add the eggs one at a time and mix in really well. I add a teaspoon of the flour with each egg to stop the mixture curdling. Then slowly add in the rest of the flour and mix. Finish off mixing in the vanilla. I use my electric mixer throughout all the recipe but the cake boffins fold in the flour at the end. I have found the cake to be more dense and not as soft doing it that way though.

I do have another recipe for cupcakes which are very soft, let me know if you want that one to. If you add fruit or choc chips to the mix then coat them with some flour first as stops them sinking to the bottom of the cakes.

I have a very happy mr rags this weekend as anyone with sky will get free sky sports this weekend so he can watch his team everton playing man city! he gave up his season ticket a few years back as the cost went up alot, and he does miss going to watch them play. We are going to buy ds1 a ticket so OH can take him to watch his first match for his birthday. they have a family enclosure so wont be too rough for him.

Not much going on with money, coming to the end of the month so now trying to make the wages last till my next payday and try to stay out the overdraft. Doing a wedding cake for tomorrow so a little extra money coming in and will be doing some treats for lunch boxes too whilst i have the oven on. might save us money on the grocery shopping.

OH needs to ring one of the cc's back up as even though we paid off the balance and cancelled the card, they still took £50 out of the account today?!?!?!?! its nice to see the card in credit but i would rather it be in my account!

right, off for a nosey round the boards whilst ds2 is quiet and the cake is in the oven.

Pinky15

Thats great rags - will give it a go - thanks:)

chevalier

Hi Rags
Wow what a roller coaster you ahve been on this year. Is MIL still with you?

Nice one on the wedding dress, and the continued success of the cakes too.

Can I suggest that now might be the time to post a Statement of Affairs on here. You never know what we might be able to spot to help trim the budget.

One thing though, about buying fruit and veg in the market rather than in a supermarket. It will even now still be cheaper, and I always found it lasted longer too...
chev

mummy2mygirls

Rags im sure your DS will love the footy. DH took DD last Jan to watch spurs and she loved it!! It wasnt to loud etc for her.
What a pain with the cc taking £50! Hope they pay it back quick!! x

ragstoricheswannabe

Life is never dull in the rags household! lol!!

Yep, mil is still with us and not looking like she is moving any time soon.

Think our fruit veg man buys rubbish stuff to sell on his market as found the fruit doesnt last 5 mins although his veg fairs a little better. Anyone thats been to my neck of the woods will know that they have caused mayhem with the one way system and trying to get in and out of town is a complete nightmare, so going into town for veg is a hassle i cant be bothered with. Just sticking to aldi's for now, and my mum has been doing a bit in her garden so get the odd treat from her.

Trying to work on my soa, will post once i have it tweaked. I know i will get some comments on things i class as a luxury seen as we dont go out much such as Sky. (story goes that our box died, and rather than paying stupid prices to get it fixed it was cheaper to get a hd box?!?! go figure!)

pennywisepoundstupid

HI Rags, was there a set time for MIL to be living with you.

Hate the town where you are now, i think the worst thing they ever did was put the one way system in, sure its damaged peoples trade on the main street, i noticed last time i was up your way how many shops had shut in the shopping centre, but i do like what they did to K shoes.

I remember my mum and gran buying fruit and veg from Greenbanks when i was a child, was a fantastic Greengrocers, such a shame it shut.

Any way have a good weekend.

ragstoricheswannabe

stupidly, the time scale was till she found somewhere else. I thought this meant till she could get a small flat private rental or something, but no, found out a few months in that meant waiting for the council to give her a flat as if she got a private rental she would lose all her points!!!! silly me not reading the small print!!!!!!

ah greenbanks grocers, was that the one just past the church near the whitcheif (sp?) pub?!?! it is now by the town hall, next to what was woolies, but quite pricey, found it cheaper in the supermarket. If i had plenty of money i would def go there every week and support my locals, but times are hard and have to look after the pennies. lol!

ragstoricheswannabe

Ok, checked bank account, and decided action is need as sick of getting the end of the month then panicking whether we will have enough money for the mortgage as its at the end of my pay cycle.

So, this morning i have applied for a second current account, the first one we have will be for bills and savings transfer (xmas, car, kids etc) and the second one will be for spends, groceries and fuel. This way hopefully we can keep a better eye on our money, know that all the bills will be paid, and hopefully keep us out of the overdraft. I dont think i can safely manage the money in just one account and is prob why after a few years i am still in the same debt as when i started due to several transfers of a hefty overdraft.

How does everyone else do it??

Both wages will be paid into the first account but will set up a standing order to transfer some of OH's wage every friday (he gets paid weekly, i get paid monthly) to the second account to last us for the week. Thats the plan, just need to sit down and realistically nominate the amount to transfer to get a good balance.

Then need to get back into some sort of meal planning to use up whats in the freezers so i can defrost them both (small one in house, chest freezer in shed) and try and save money on weekly food shop (hard as things come in packs of 4 and i have 5 to feed) really would love to do everything from scratch like chicken bitey things etc as better for the kids but i really dont have the time with working as much as i do. and i know the mil wont carry it on when i am at work. Got to the point where she kept buying the microwavable spag bol, so when i made it lovingly from scratch they didnt want it as it was from a pan!!!!!:eek: words were had, believe me :mad:

Just booked our honeymoon!!!:D It will be a slightly mse honeymoon as gonna ask for money towards it rather than presents as cant think of anything we need or have the space for, and figured a nice luxuary holiday is a one time thing, and will then motivate us to get rid of the debts after the wedding so we can go away more often, even if its just taking the kids away for weekends. Really want them to remember their childhoods as fun and happy, rather than watching us struggle.

guess you can say its almost a renewed lightbulb moment. Will be an energy saving lightbulb till after the wedding though, brightening up slowly:rotfl:

chevalier

Erm not that I want to rock the boat, but you MIL IS bidding for housing that comes up isn't she? Ok she may not get anywhere, but I gather from others that this is the way most councils operate now, they don't just 'give' you a place?
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ragstoricheswannabe

she has her code that she needs to bid, but is catagory c as she has a suitable roof over her head (?!?!?!?!?) so if anyone from group a or b bids, they stand a better chance of getting it.

Not that i know what she does on her computer, but i have heard no mention of any bids being laid down................................ummmmmm, off to find a suitable way to bring it up later. Maybe "so, have any places come up suitable?? how does the bidding work again?......................"